Exploring the Media Center Interface

The sole reason for the existence of the Media Center remote control, which was developed jointly by Microsoft and Dutch electronics maker Philips, is to provide you with easy, across-the-room access to the Media Center interface (see Figure 4.7). Created as a sleek, highly visual " one-stop " destination for all your entertainment activities, Media Center's animated transitions and simple menu structure seem vaguely familiar, yet totally unlike any Windows desktop scheme that has come before it.

Figure 4.7. When you press the green Start button on the remote control, it will launch the Media Center interface; however, an inset window (lower left) always displays the current media selection.

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Switching from Media Center to the Windows XP Desktop

You can switch from the Media Center interface to the Microsoft Windows XP desktop at any time. Simply press the green Start button on the remote control, and then use the right-arrow key to select Minimize (see Figure 4.8), and press OK. Media Center will continue to run in the background. You can also use your remote control to maximize the Media Center screen, or to close the Media Center interface altogether.

Figure 4.8. This close-up shows the onscreen buttons in the upper-right corner that allow you to maximize, minimize, or close the Media Center interface using your remote control.

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Customizing Your "10-Foot" Look and Feel

One of the cool things you can do to really customize your Media Center experience is add menu items. This allows you to select an application using the remote control, and have the link to that application appear in the Media Center menu stack right below the existing Media Center applications.

Adding Applications to the Start Menu

Here's how to add items to the Media Center Start menu. Essentially, you're going to add a new application link to the Media Center Programs folder in the Windows Start menu.

  • Create a shortcut to the desired application by placing the cursor over the icon for the program you want to add, clicking the right mouse, and then selecting Send To, Desktop (Create Shortcut).

  • Move or Copy the shortcut into the following folder: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Accessories\Media Center\Media Center Programs. (Instead of All Users in the pathname, you can specify a particular user folder. In this way, different users will see different menu items when they launch Media Center.)

  • When you launch Media Center, your new application link will appear in the More Programs menu. When you select your application, the Media Center user interface will be replaced by your application. The next time you launch Media Center, the link will appear at the bottom of the main menu list, before Settings. Make sure that the shortcut name is the same as the name of the application, with no "shortcut_to_" prefix or filename extension.

If you want your custom menu to look really slick, you can add an associated icon. It works like this: When you select an item from the Start menu item, an image (or icon) appears at the upper right of the screen (see Figure 4.9). You can assign one of your own images to any new menu item you add by doing the following:

  • Find or create a graphic image. It must be in Portable Network Graphics (PNG) format, and it can't exceed 300x300 pixels. (There are already hundreds of PNG files on your system; you can run a search using Windows Explorer.)

  • Give the file exactly the same name as the application you are launching (with a PNG extension instead of an EXE extension, of course), and place it in the same directory as that applicationor "executable" fileon your hard drive. For example, if you added a link for the mspaint.exe program to your Media Center menu, you need to place a graphic file called mspaint.png in the same directory as the .exe file (which happens to be C:\WINNT\system32, in this case).

Figure 4.9. Following the steps listed earlier, a link called Paint was created. A graphics file called mspaint.png a pair of green handprintswas placed in the same directory. When the Paint item is selected, the green hands icon is displayed. When you select the Paint item, it automatically launches the MS Paint drawing program.

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Turning Transition Animations On or Off

In the preceding text, we discussed how to set up your own graphics and animations, which occur when you change screens in Media Center. You can also turn the animations off if you like. To do so, follow these steps:

  1. Press the green Start button on the remote.

  2. Select Settings.

  3. Select General.

  4. Select Appearance.

  5. Place a check mark in the Transition Animations check box.

If you want to turn the animations back on, follow the same procedure to uncheck Transition Animations.

Turning Notifications On or Off

Media Center is designed to keep you in-the-know when it comes to the status of your system, but you may reach a point where you become annoyed by its constant nudging about things such as whether you are low on disk space, when your TV signal goes out, or when there is an interruption in the availability of your Electronic Programming Guide data.

If you feel yourself getting fed up with information overload, here's how to turn off Media center's friendly reminders:

  1. Follow the procedure given previously for turning off animation transitions.

  2. When you reach the Appearance control menu, clear the check mark in the Notifications check box.

The Absolute Minimum

Arguably, one of the most important pieces of new equipment included with your Media Center PC is the remote control. Because you've purchased one of the first personal computers that was designed to be used from across the room, it's important to get completely comfortable with controlling your Media PC remotelyand tailoring your PC's across-the-room interface to suit your needs and tastes. In this chapter, we detailed the following:

  • How to get around your Media Center using the remote control, including what you can and cannot accomplish with the remote alone.

  • Specific features and uses for your remote control's power and transport, navigation, audio/video, and data entry buttons.

  • How to personalize your Media Center menu by creating new menu items. These can even include your own customized, animated icons to give them the "factory installed" look and feel.

  • How to adjust your Media Center interface using the Settings menu, including specific steps for turning animations and notifications off and on.




Absolute Beginner's Guide to Microsoft Windows XP Media Center
Absolute Beginners Guide to Windows XP Media Center
ISBN: 0789730030
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 159
Authors: Steve Kovsky

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